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Monday, June 29, 2009

For those who love durians, this is the event for you. There was a HUGE crowd last year when residents came out to eat durian in support of Children's Wish Society of Malaysia. Last year, I was part of the durian eating contest and emerged champion amongst the invited guests. Hopefully this year, I can be the defending champion! See you there. For more info, click here.

Despite the fact that the PKFZ scandal has bloated up to RM12.5 billion was exposed since February this year, the mystery of “Who's Dunnit?” remains completely unanswered. Who - from the long list of current and ex-Minister of Transports, Port Klang Authority chairmans, and Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) chairpersons - is to be held responsible and accountable? Why has the blatant misuse of tax-payers monies not explained or revealed appropriately? A concerted effort is being made to hide the truth. The Dewan Rakyat Speaker to immediately allow the full PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report to be to all MPs, the Transport Minister Ong Tee Keat escaped to the “prestigious” Paris Air Show returning only to give an 8-minute ministerial non-statement, the MACC's refusal to divulge their findings to the parliamentary public accounts committee (PAC), the refusal of the PAC to summon key witnesses like the former Transport Ministers, Tun Ling Liong Sik and Datuk Seri Chan Kong Choy...The search to uncover the truth has hit a brickwall... should we let the matter rest? We want you to come and share your sentiments at our forum:

RM12.5b PKFZ Scandal: No Competency, No Accountability & No Transparency!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

In today's The Star, we find this news report of the local MCA division head, Mdm Ong Chong Swen's statement on DAP and the Subang Ria park issue. If you've been reading The Star, and only The Star, then you will not realize that this article is being cunningly published in response to my press conference held yesterday (Wednesday June 24 2009), which 'conveniently' was not published in The Star.

It was instead published by Malaysiakini and in various other newspapers, Malay Mail and NST. Here's the link to the video on Malaysiakini and also the news article from Malaysiakini in full:

photo courtesy of Malaysiakini

Ronnie earns wrath of Subang residentsYip Ai Tsin Jun 24, 09 6:42pm

Selangor executive councillor Ronnie Liu earned the wrath of the Subang Jaya Residents Association after he told the MPSJ draft local plan public hearing on Monday that "a small part" of the Subang Ria park could be developed into a commercial area.

AS Gill, chairman, of Subang Jaya Residents Association was disappointed and shocked that the DAP exceutive councillor could even suggest more development in an already over developed area without even looking at the local and federal laws. "This is abuse of process. Residents' views are not taken into consideration by the Pakatan exco member. Statements are being made with total disregard for competency, accountability, transparency and due process of the law. "Did he consider all the legal requirements before making the statement? Is he a loose cannon in the Pakatan government who just shoots and balks at everyone to keep them quiet," said Gill.

Committee member, Balachandran Naicker, added that the residents had already objected to Sime UEP's proposal to develop the 29.39 hectare park for commercial purposes in July 15, 2007 at a public hearing. He said that the developer had decided to withdraw the application for development in 2007 after the objections."Residents are surprised that the proposal is being entertained at all," he said. Balachandran appealed to the state government to step in and rectify the matter." Residents had believed that the park would remain a park in perpetuity as promised by the developer when they bought their property," he said.

‘Park should be gazetted'

The residents had met at Subang Jaya state assemblyperson Hannah Yeoh's office. Yeoh reiterated at the meeting that the park should be gazetted as a green lung and any development must be purely for recreational purpose as stated in the land title. Yeoh assured the residents that Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim will call for a consultation session with the residents soon.

Since the developer had refused to handover the park to the MPSJ, Liu had suggested that a small part of the area be developed to defray the cost of acquiring the park. Liu had reportedly said that it would be "crazy" for the state government to acquire the park as it is estimated to be worth more than RM 100 million. Liu could not be contacted for comment.

Sime UEP has also not given a clear overview of the proposed development plan. "There were some levels of deception in the way the numbers and figures were presented," said Gill. Sime UEP still owns the park although it was supposed to be handed over to the local council after the completion of the SS12 and Wangsa Baiduri areas in 1988.

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This is not the first time that I've experienced MCA and The Star working hand in glove with the aim of merely scoring political points. The Star was present at my press conference yesterday. Yet, knowing full well the details of the situation and my responses along with the responses of the residents, they went ahead to exclusively publish the statement by the local MCA leader which was aimed at taking swipes at DAP. Of course, this MCA leader would look extremely foolish if my statements at yesterday's press conference were also published alongside hers, therefore they decided to simply feature her and ignore everything else.

That statement by Mdm Ong clearly exhibited that she does not understand the difference between MCA and DAP, or simply feigns ignorance. That statement by Ronnie Liu is a statement by Ronnie Liu. I do not agree with it, many of the other DAP assemblymen do not agree with it too. We can freely express our personal opinions in DAP and we do not have to toe the party line blindly on every matter. I, as the state assemblyman for Subang Jaya will not budge from demanding what's right and just for Subang Jaya and her people. My stand on the Subang Ria park is unchanged, pre-election & post-election.

I have many questions to ask of MCA here in Subang Jaya. It was during the watch of the BN state government that the land title for the Subang Ria park fell into the hands of the developer. Mdm Ong, you owe us, the people of Subang Jaya an explanation and an apology.

I challenge The Star to publish my posting here in its entirety in tomorrow's edition.

Monday, June 22, 2009

WHEN Subang Jaya Municipal Council president Datuk Adnan Md Ikhsan chaired a public hearing on a planning application on Nov 13, 2007, he moaned and groaned that he had been working on an empty stomach – and kept repeating the fact that he had not had a drink all morning, that the people do not understand him and lamented that his job was a difficult one.

Having treated residents with utter contempt by keeping them waiting for an hour, he then went to "lecture" them on who is qualified to attend. He viewed the residents as "nosy parkers" who were hell-bent on preventing politicians and their cronies from plonking a 15-storey commercial complex on where the balai raya in SS15 stands. Only a telephone call from the chief secretary to the government, Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, jolted him back into reality and realising that he works for the people, that their views have to be heard and that their needs have to be met.

Mohd Sidek has a proclivity for going by the book and in the next few days, no would be surprised if Adnan is cited again for what is now becoming known as the "Telekom land scandal" in USJ6.

Some background to the case: A piece of land was sold to Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) in 1988 by the developer, UEP at that time, later Sime-UEP and now Sime Darby Properties, for a telecommunication facility. When Sime submitted the layout plan to the state planning committee, it remained so, and TM has since built an office on part of the land. Sime developed the area which is now called USJ6 and those who bought the houses were given a layout plan which showed the existence of the TM building. In 1989, the use of the land was changed to "commercial" and the residents believed that it would be used as an exchange or an office by TM.

No one would apportion blame on Adnan. He was not part of the decision-making body and neither were his fingerprints anywhere on or near the documents. But the events that followed have hallmarks of heavy-handedness by MPSJ officials. In November 2005, MPSJ rejected an application by TM to sub-divide the land on the grounds that it would remain as a reserve for TM’s use. In February the following year, an appeal was filed but turned down as it was described in the records as "ditolak dengan alasan tapak tersebut merupakan tapak kemudahaan awam (rezab telekom)".

Despite that, another application was submitted and on June 17 last year, a public hearing was held on the application where residents and those affected objected on the grounds that no traffic impact assessment (TIA) report was submitted. Those present questioned the legality of the change in the land use. No answers were forthcoming. After the March 8 elections, no council meetings were held until July when the new councillors were sworn-in. So, the public hearing was held without any endorsement of the councillors or the full council or the one-stop-centre (OSC). (Note the dates because the timings are crucial.)

In June, the OSC (without councillors sitting as members) was again asked to look at the application and it referred it to the state planning committee. The new councillors took office on July 1 but at no time were they told that the application had been rejected THREE times. Neither were they told that the previous decisions were valid and even the appeal had been rejected. But the planning committee approved the application, and MPSJ informed the applicant accordingly. Residents protested and the issue was raised at the state assembly on March 12.

What is worrying is that the facts of the case were hidden from the state planning committee when it decided to give the approval. Who withheld vital information such as the previous rejections when the committee met?

According to the minutes of the meeting, there is neither mention of the rejections nor the requirement of the TIA report. Ironically, the TIA report surfaced in May this year, nine months AFTER the approval was given. How could the approval be given without the TIA report? Shouldn’t the residents have a right under the Town and Country Planning Act to view the report and then make their objections known?Perhaps, MPSJ has not learnt the lesson that its neighbour, the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) is paying for not following procedures in the Mentari case. Residents of Taman Desa Ria successfully sued when the council called for a public hearing three months AFTER issuing the development order.

In this case, the damage can be repaired by revoking the development order and the state acquiring the land for a public purpose, in this case a recreational facility for the residents. However, that is not the point. This is not the first time land meant for public amenities has been hijacked for commercial purposes. It has happened before in Bandar Utama. But the state government has remained silent with folded arms as those responsible keep creaming off what is meant for the public.

The theft of public land must stop. We are told this is the modus operandi of some politicians and their cronies aided and abetted by civil servants in using public land for private purposes. Layout plans with the land demarcated for public amenities are approved, only to be changed later by concealing facts and figures from the authorities. The same methods are used all over the state to take over land meant for the public. This is an act of fraud and those responsible must be punished.For a start, Adnan has a duty to explain why no one was informed of rejection of the three previous applications. They were kept secret to all and sundry – from the mentri besar down to the ordinary ratepayer. The usual excuse would be: "I left it in the hands of the town planner."

The buck stops with the boss and he must take responsibility for such errors and omissions. He has a duty not only to explain to the chief secretary but also to the thousands of ratepayers in Subang Jaya. Anything less would be unacceptable.R. Nadeswaran says stealing from the people is no petty theft and wants the perpetrators of fraud on the people to be brought to book. He is editor (special and investigative reporting) at theSun. He can be reached at citizen-nades@thesundaily.com

LEARNING is not restricted just to classrooms and textbooks, and it is especially true for children with learning difficulties.

“Educational toys help them to learn, improve motor skills and develop the cognitive functions in their brains,” City Discipleship Presbyterian Church (CDPC) senior pastor Revd Wong Fong Yang said.

However, related resources and information were previously not easily accessible to parents of children with learning disabilities in Subang Jaya. The situation has now improved with the launch of MaKasih, the Family Support and Resource Services in CDPC in Subang Jaya.

It was revealed that MaKasih – short for terima kasih (thank you) – was picked as a reminder that every child is unique and special.

“Parents don’t need to feel alone in going through the struggle while handling their children with learning difficulties. Here, you can share, network and form support groups,” Wong said.

Kicking off the programme was the Playgroup Activities that would be held on the last Saturday of each month from 10.30am to noon.

Both parents and children (from toddlers to eight years old, including the siblings of children with learning difficulties) can play a variety of games together during the play session.

During the launch held in the spirit of World Play Day, the participants had fun trying their hand at art and craft, fishing, tossing game, balloon-sculpture and face-painting.

“We also hope to have our own toy library to loan toys and books to the public in January next year,” Wong added.

Subang Jaya assemblyman Hannah Yeoh pledged RM10,000 on behalf of the state government for the centre’s future activities.

“In a meeting with the disabled in November last year, parents of children with special needs requested a toy library here as the nearest one was located in Bandar Tasik Selatan in Kuala Lumpur.

“With the effort of CDPC and Malaysian Care, we now have a centre that caters for all regardless of race and religion,” she said.

Yeoh added that it was possible to draw out the talents of special kids with the proper tools and educational materials.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

At the dialogue with OKU organised by my office last year, some parents with special needs requested for a toy library and parents resource centre in Subang Jaya. This request is now being fulfilled - thanks to Malaysian Care and City Discipleship Presbyterian Church ("CDPC"). This new resource centre will cater to the needs of special needs, similar to the existing one in Bandar Tasik Selatan.

This resource centre is aimed to provide support & resource services to families of children with special needs, specifically children with learning disabilities. Services include:- Playgroup activities (immediate on a monthly basis)- Loan of toys & books (Jan 2010 onwards)

It will also provide avenues for parents to network, share and form support groups among themselves.

The launch will be held in conjunction with World Play Day. Details are as stated below:

“…World Play Day is a day when children and adults do what they want to do and it is also a time to relax and to interact with one another. World Play Day envisioned promoting the healthy growth of each other in simple, self-motivated activities of their own choice….”

“…One of the most important things about play is that it gets us in touch with other human beings… Children learn to talk through play, they learn to make friends through play, they get exercise through play; they also acquire the basic skills for formal education such as concentration, imagination, self-expression and the retention of useful facts. Let a child play today and ensure his happy, useful and healthy future.”

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

I'm writing this with an annoying headache and a frustrated spirit. Whenever there is a gathering of residents, I do not see my peers speaking up. It is the older, BN-voting disillusioned generation that pounces at every opportunity to complain loudly these days. Young people do not want to be involved. They sleep in on a Sunday morning. They observe from afar. I was like that pre-March 08. I know what it is to be indifferent. I know how it feels to covet what others my age are enjoying while living overseas. I know why it is more convenient to be passive, to do nothing. But this attitude has to change, and change fast.

I can hear some people are already thinking - there she goes again... complaining! I am not complaining here. I am getting the silent majority to come to realization of what's happening in our community. Malaysians confuse me. They want clean leaders. They said they voted for change. Yet once I got elected, some immediately branded me as not trustworthy because I'm a politician. It doesn't make sense.

A recent survey by Transparency International published in The Malaysian Insider ('Malaysians say politicians the most corrupt lot') is a tell-tale sign of the state of mind of Malaysians. According to the survey, 42% of Malaysians perceived politicians as being most corrupt. This is extremely disheartening. But this report should be analysed alongside an indicator of the rate of change of government. Why? Because logically, if the people perceive politicians as corrupt, then surely the people would be voting to change their corrupt government more frequently, and at every chance they get. But then, we do not see that in Malaysia. The people here view politicians as most corrupt, but yet, constantly vote these same people into power. According to Malaysiakini, the former chief minister of Selangor tops the list of high-profile corruption cases in the country with the highest number of corruption reports lodged against him in the then ACA (Anti-Corruption Agency), yet he still won the state assembly seat which he contested last year! And there are others who have controversies and scandals surrounding them, yet still bagging huge wins with majorities in the tens of thousands! A nation that perceives politicians as most corrupt should be changing its government more frequently, but we don't. It seems that we as a nation are all talk only.

The new breed of politicians came on board because we believed in a cause worth fighting for. I can't speak for all but I do believe there are others who are on the same page as me. Do this for the people, we thought to ourselves! And then when I got here, I realised that there are people who don't really believe in what they have voted for. The exact same thing may be said by a dentist, a hawker, a student or a housewife but just because I'm a politician, it is dismissed by some quarters very easily and is viewed with much suspicion.We want to do this for the people but some of these people purposefully choose to be professional skeptics, viewing the world with doubt. How can we not be disillusioned?

And young people, if you still don't get involved in the local community, in the government or in politics, you will soon find yourselves in a place where everything has been charted for you and it is too late to change it then. The saying is true : Until lions learn to write, hunters will tell their story for them.

1. Raise funds for the children from Harvest Center.2. Create public awareness about Harvest Centre children who have not been given a chance to have proper education.3. Develop and enhance the students of Sunway University School of Business and Law & School of Computer Technology's planning, organizational, interpersonal and communication skills in organizing this event.4. Engage the community to participate and play a role in helping these children break away from poverty through education.5. Instill moral values into the college students’ community in order to develop better and brighter future leaders.

In my speech, I encouraged these young leaders to keep doing good for their community and their effort to raise funds for education for the underprivileged children is truly commendable. The future of Malaysia lies in the hands of these young ones. I shared with them some cases of urban poverty in Subang Jaya and how when they walk for the children (to take them out of the cycle of poverty), they are also indirectly walking to fight crime.

This event is part of their compulsory moral studies. This ought to be the way for the moral syllabus in our education system. Practical steps must be taught and not how to score an A for your moral paper. I commend the lecturers involved for being creative and for being real educators. Moral values cannot be taught in a classroom, they are instilled and must be shown through the lives of the older ones. You lead by example. When students see moral values being practised by the government, lawmakers, enforcement officers, parents and teachers, only then will they truly learn about such values.

I've studied moral in school before. We were taught not to steal. When we grow up, we learn that corruption is a serious issue in Malaysia. Corruption involves stealing, taking money which rightfully does not belong to you. To teach moral effectively, the authorities need to show that they are serious in wiping out wrongdoings. Charge those who are guilty of stealing taxpayers' money. What you study in the classroom must be reflected in the news we read daily.

Well done students of Sunway University College. Keep walking for righteousness!

MPSJ has set the hearing dates for the Draft Local Plan. The dates are 15th and 22nd June 2009. Those who have filed their objections last year will be notified by MPSJ via letter. Please read here for more details.

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Last week, Jawatankuasa Penduduk Zone 1 (JKP) organised a dialogue with the police in SS18, Subang Jaya as part of their recently launched Safe Neighbourhood Campaign. There was a strong crowd present to discuss about issues relating to crime in SS18. Residents were informed about Rakan Cop and SJ Alert.

Chief Inspector Sulaiman of SS17 police station was also present to answer questions from the residents. MPSJ Councillor Mdm Theresa Ratnam Thong was the moderator for the Q&A session. Chairman of Subang Jaya Residents' Association, Mr A.S. Gill was also present to address the residents. Even though crime is under the federal jurisdiction, I stayed on for the entire dialogue session to understand the safety issues raised by the residents in SS18. Crime is an important issue to me and I know it is equally close to the residents' hearts too.

I'm glad that residents such as the committee members of JKP Zone 1 are making effort to make their neighbourhood a safer place. This month, they will be going to SS19 to create awareness. Look out for their promotional banners!

Let’s talk about greens. I never fully realized the importance of trees to a town until I became the state assemblyman. I started noticing the different species of trees in our neighbourhood and I would compare them with the trees I see in Shah Alam, PJ and KL. Whenever I’m on the road, my eyes are instantaneously fixed on the trees. I was always under the impression, less trees, less hassle. I remember how as a kid, I used to quarrel with my dad when he insisted that we should be planting fruit trees in our garden. Fruit trees? I thought that was just so un-cool! And dad would argue back then, ‘you know nothing about having shade, it’s so hot, we need more trees!’.

He was right. I knew nothing about having shade, until now. Sometime in November last year, I started asking myself questions. Why do we fight over-development (“OD”)? Let’s call it OD. What is so bad about OD? Will our kids benefit from OD? Apart from traffic jam, what else does OD produces? Climatic change and what else? How do we want Subang Jaya to be known as?

When I’m at the state legislative assembly in Selangor, whenever the assemblymen gather around for a brief chat, the topic which frequently comes up is traffic. Assemblymen from other places would say to me ‘the traffic jam at your place is very bad-la’. I would manage only a smile.

I do not want Subang Jaya to be known only for its traffic jam. So I started envisioning. Whenever I drive around Subang Jaya, I would imagine the town filled with beautiful shady trees. The power of imagination. Few weeks ago, I saw my imagination in reality (I know it sounds like an oxymoron). I was down in Singapore for a weekend and there was something different about this trip. I used to be attracted to only its shopping malls in Orchard Road and its public transportation but this time around I started noticing its trees! The trees didn’t appear to me to have just sprung up from nowhere. They didn’t just grow wild so beautifully on the streets. They can’t be. After all, we share a similar climate. Why didn’t they just grow wild beautifully on the streets of Subang Jaya?

Someone must have taken great care in planting these trees in Singapore and I’m certain it didn’t just happen in the last two years. These overgrown lush trees must have taken years to grow and they must have survived at least a generation. The closest to this which I have seen in Malaysia is probably the trees at the lake garden in Taiping.

Taiping happens to be my dad’s hometown. He beams with pride each time he drives past the lake garden. His typical remarks are: ‘look at these trees, look at their huge branches and the canopy of leaves above’. And the conversation would always end with this statement – “... and this is my HOMETOWN Taiping!”

Subang Jaya is my hometown. I want to say this with pride to my children and grandchildren too. For this to happen, someone has to make a conscious decision to green this town. We need to wilfully green our streets and parks. We will start now. New trees have been planted on Persiaran Tujuan all the way from USJ 2 to USJ 12. Another 90 trees have been planted at USJ 11. Another 200 more will be planted in Millennium Park in SS13 this month and many more to come.

Globally, a major worldwide tree planting campaign has been initiated by The United Nations. Visit http://www.unep.org/billiontreecampaign/ to find out more. [The campaign identifies four key areas for planting: degraded natural forests and wilderness areas; farms and rural landscapes; sustainably managed plantations; and urban environments, but it can also begin with a single tree in a back yard.]

I want each young person in Subang Jaya to grin with pride when they speak of their hometown Subang Jaya. Enough of over-development. Mayors, councillors, assemblymen and politicians, they come and go. Some are remembered for how they wasted taxpayers’ money with white elephant projects and some for the way they so readily gave approvals for huge development projects.

I want to be marked differently. I leave you with this wise proverb:

"A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in." -- Greek proverb

Just like the forefathers in Taiping and Singapore, I want to leave behind a green inheritance for our kids and their kids. Let the hallmark of Subang Jaya be the trees and not its traffic jam. The power to change that lies in your hands and mine. You do not have to wait till you’re old to plant trees. Young and old can start now. Start today.

p/s – To my Dad : this article is a tribute to your great wisdom in insisting to plant fruit trees years ago. I know you’ve been waiting to hear this, what more in a public statement; yes you were right! Have a blessed Father’s Day to all the Dads in Subang Jaya!

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

My office recently initiated a 'plant more trees' effort and with the co-operation of Puan Azlina (Pengarah Landskap of MPSJ) and residents of USJ 11/3 and USJ 11/4, we planted 90 trees along Jalan USJ 11/6.

Close to 50 residents, young and old gathered at 9am and they were given a short briefing on steps to plant a tree.

MPSJ officers were also present to provide equipments and guidance to the residents.

We planted 90 Bucida Molineti trees and hopefully in months and years to come, they will grow beautifully and help combat climate change.

The older ones came to plant trees for the future of the younger ones.

The younger ones also learned to plant.

Great team effort displayed that day. We completed the planting of 90 trees in less than 2 hours.

These boys from SMK USJ 12 who frequently play basketball in USJ 11/3 also joined us that morning. They were of great help!

I will continue to work with residents to plant more trees all over Subang Jaya this year. I will blog more about the reasons for such an initiative. Thank you to Pn Azlina and all residents of USJ 11/3 and USJ 11/4 for making this project a great success!